If you had your eye on Trevor Story last season, wondering whether the Red Sox shortstop would wear down as he approached then far exceeded 100 games played for the first time since 2021, what you saw was the exact opposite.
The now 33-year-old Story, playing his 10th MLB season and fourth in Boston, matched his career highs with 157 games and 156 at shortstop. His season began in disappointing fashion, as he carried a .582 OPS and 31.6 percent strikeout rate into the June 7 game at Yankee Stadium.
That date became a turning point for Story, who collected three hits and five RBIs in Boston’s 10-7 win against its archrival. Over his final 96 games, Story became one of the game’s most dangerous offensive threats, reaching numbers no other player attained during the last three-plus months of the regular season.
Let’s look at three ways Story, who hit at least 24 home runs in five of his six seasons with the Rockies and cracked 25 in 2025 -- more than his previous three seasons combined -- re-established himself at the plate.
Fewer strikeouts
Story has always been a free swinger -- he’s never reached 60 walks in a season and his best on-base percentages have largely been attached to strong batting averages, like when he hit at a .294 clip for the Rockies and carried a .363 on-base percentage with 58 walks in 2019.
Low walk totals appear even more egregious when attached to a high strikeout rate, which is what afflicted Story into early June, with a 79-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio before that turnaround on June 7.
Story slightly improved his walk rate, going from 4.8 percent to 5.2 percent, but the biggest change came as his strikeout rate tumbled from 31.6 percent to 24 percent.
That’s because Story didn’t swing as often at pitches out of the zone, dropping to a 20 percent chase rate beginning June 7 after he swung at 36 percent of pitches out of the zone through June 6.
On pitches in the strike zone beginning on June 7, Story had a .320 batting average with a .570 slugging percentage and 16 home runs compared to a .284 average, .432 slug and seven homers in his first 61 games.
Fastball masher
Story did not hit a single home run against a four-seam fastball during those first 61 games. In fact, his first home run against the pitch came on June 10, when he turned around a 96.1 mph heater from Tampa Bay’s Ryan Pepiot for a 108 mph blast over the Green Monster.
Still, that June 7 date again represents a line of demarcation for Story’s performance against four-seamers. When he stepped to the plate against the Yankees that Saturday, Story was batting .143 against four-seam fastballs with a .156 slugging percentage.
From then on, you couldn’t get a fastball by Story, as he crushed them to the tune of a .294 average and a .450 slug. Once again, an improved strikeout rate was to thank, as it dropped from 31 percent to 25.2 percent over Story’s final 96 games. His hard-hit rate jumped from 45.1 to 59.1 against four-seamers.
Story’s success against fastballs improved his overall production and put him on base more often, allowing him to become one of the best power-and-speed players the game had to offer over the final three-plus months.
After June 6, Story was the only player in baseball with at least 18 home runs, 25 doubles, 20 stolen bases and 70 RBIs. His 111 hits was tied for seventh in MLB.
A little bit of luck
Story’s batting average on balls in play jumped from .291 through June 6 to .352 for the rest of the season. The latter figure was tied for 18th among 262 players with at least 200 plate appearances during those final three-plus months.
A .352 BABIP is surely high, and it would have ranked fourth in baseball among qualifiers. But it’s not astronomical, as evidenced by the fact that hitters of varying profiles reached a .350 BABIP in 2025 – Aaron Judge, Harrison Bader, Brice Turang, Jordan Beck, Gavin Lux, James Wood and Trea Turner.
As mentioned, Story created some of his own luck with his vast improvement against four-seam fastballs. Through June 6, Story hit 17 four-seam fastballs 100 mph or harder, compared to 36 from June 7 through the end of the season.
In every other facet of the game, Story was steady. His 31 stolen bases were a career best and ranked sixth in the American League. He also ranked first among AL shortstops with 219 putouts and 397 assists, and his 89 double plays turned led baseball.
Once Story figured it out at the plate in 2025, he became the well-rounded player the Red Sox believed they were getting when they signed him to a six-year, $140 million deal in 2022. After opting in to the final two years of the deal this offseason, Story will look to continue his career renaissance.